Current Aesthetics: Mariinsky Ballet

To elaborate further on too narrowly defined technique, it is my believe that high extension has been singled out unjustly as *the* violator of classical dance esthetics. Why, a dancer who can mount a very high but poorly positioned jump with feet turned in and arms stretched out in “Misses Moore!” exclamation is far worse. And what about triple fouete turns that don’t even open a la seconde?

Ah, you just hit a sensitive key here. Now, that's something I can't take...the current trend on some "ballerinas" not to make an effort to open a fouette in a complete a la seconde. Sometimes the working leg is barely off the floor, in a very poor 35/45 degree angle... Not good, not good...

It is also available on Amazon Germany, Amazon France, and Amazon UK. FYI.___

Also just for the sake of thoroughness, I agree with the comments (Angelique some of which were yours) that the issues about technique are not relegated to leg height only. I tend to use that now as an all-encompassing phrase, but I should stop because it is misleading. The nuances in technique of past decades, small transition steps, the loss of details are also included in that overall topic/category/issue. And leg "height" is also really not what it boils down to, as you can have a dancer with a 180 degree extension do it with good placement, good taste, and musicality. Unfortunately that is not always happening and more often you see the effort to *achieve* the height at the expense of the other points. It is simpler to use the example of leg height (whacking) as opposed to explaining in print the difference between different pas de bourree...but the issue that I referred to is not only leg height. I did want to clarify that.

[About Somova and open night casting I dont believe she is cast on opening nights at the Mariinsky. Unless you speak of a heavy foreign audience attended festival (and even then she did not open any of the last 4-5 spring festivals here in Petersburg I believe-- I can't recall if hers was opening night for Ratmansky's LHHorse or not, but if so that was the only opening of the April festival here.]

As an example of a completely untrained audience member-I preferred the first clip, the black and white one. It seemed that the tenderness, delicacy, and vulnerablity were progressively diluted in the following examples.

Anyhow, didn't Russia during the Soviet era have its own period of emphasising athleticism over artistry, with dancers such as Olga Lepeshinskaya? I actually like her, her explosiveness and strength are amazing to watch, but when I watch her make a run into a "fish leap" (is that the correct term for when they do backwards almost blind leaps into the partner's arms?), it's more reminiscent of gymnastic floor exercises than ballet. But I still love her, she's just a charismatic and fascinating dancer.